diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e404e4767944..18adf5502244 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -708,11 +708,12 @@ endif
 
 # The expansion should be delayed until arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile is included.
 # Some architectures define CROSS_COMPILE in arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile.
-# CC_VERSION_TEXT and RUSTC_VERSION_TEXT are referenced from Kconfig (so they
-# need export), and from include/config/auto.conf.cmd to detect the compiler
-# upgrade.
+# CC_VERSION_TEXT, RUSTC_VERSION_TEXT and PAHOLE_VERSION are referenced from
+# Kconfig (so they need export), and from include/config/auto.conf.cmd to
+# detect the version changes between builds.
 CC_VERSION_TEXT = $(subst $(pound),,$(shell LC_ALL=C $(CC) --version 2>/dev/null | head -n 1))
 RUSTC_VERSION_TEXT = $(subst $(pound),,$(shell $(RUSTC) --version 2>/dev/null))
+PAHOLE_VERSION = $(shell $(srctree)/scripts/pahole-version.sh $(PAHOLE))
 
 ifneq ($(findstring clang,$(CC_VERSION_TEXT)),)
 include $(srctree)/scripts/Makefile.clang
@@ -733,7 +734,7 @@ ifdef config-build
 # KBUILD_DEFCONFIG may point out an alternative default configuration
 # used for 'make defconfig'
 include $(srctree)/arch/$(SRCARCH)/Makefile
-export KBUILD_DEFCONFIG KBUILD_KCONFIG CC_VERSION_TEXT RUSTC_VERSION_TEXT
+export KBUILD_DEFCONFIG KBUILD_KCONFIG CC_VERSION_TEXT RUSTC_VERSION_TEXT PAHOLE_VERSION
 
 config: outputmakefile scripts_basic FORCE
 	$(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=scripts/kconfig $@
@@ -1921,12 +1922,18 @@ clean: private rm-files := Module.symvers modules.nsdeps compile_commands.json
 PHONY += prepare
 # now expand this into a simple variable to reduce the cost of shell evaluations
 prepare: CC_VERSION_TEXT := $(CC_VERSION_TEXT)
+prepare: PAHOLE_VERSION := $(PAHOLE_VERSION)
 prepare:
 	@if [ "$(CC_VERSION_TEXT)" != "$(CONFIG_CC_VERSION_TEXT)" ]; then \
 		echo >&2 "warning: the compiler differs from the one used to build the kernel"; \
 		echo >&2 "  The kernel was built by: $(CONFIG_CC_VERSION_TEXT)"; \
 		echo >&2 "  You are using:           $(CC_VERSION_TEXT)"; \
 	fi
+	@if [ "$(PAHOLE_VERSION)" != "$(CONFIG_PAHOLE_VERSION)" ]; then \
+		echo >&2 "warning: pahole version differs from the one used to build the kernel"; \
+		echo >&2 "  The kernel was built with: $(CONFIG_PAHOLE_VERSION)"; \
+		echo >&2 "  You are using:             $(PAHOLE_VERSION)"; \
+	fi
 
 PHONY += help
 help:
diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index fa79feb8fe57..317f3c0b13ad 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ config RUSTC_HAS_FILE_AS_C_STR
 
 config PAHOLE_VERSION
 	int
-	default $(shell,$(srctree)/scripts/pahole-version.sh $(PAHOLE))
+	default "$(PAHOLE_VERSION)"
 
 config CONSTRUCTORS
 	bool